The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told the leaders of opposition parties who are behind the formation of the new mega party, All Progressive Congress (APC) that they are merely chasing shadows in the plans to upstage the PDP during the 2015 general elections.
The party also debunked reports that some of its state governors are planning to join the yet to be registered APC.
The party added that it was confident none of its members occupying elective position will dump its fold and join APC as such would amount to abandoning a moving train to join a static one whose destination is uncharted.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement issued in Abuja in response to news of imminent exodus of its members to APC described the reports as false and intended to deceive Nigerians.
He insisted that all governors elected on the platform of the PDP are working with the party leadership and President Goodluck Jonathan and that there is no cause for any one of them to contemplate leaving the ruling party for the APC that is yet to have an operable structure.
Metuh said the fact that the PDP took the high moral ground of decency to congratulate the opposition on the formation of the APC does not cover the new party’s inadequacies and its destiny to fall apart in no time.
“Nobody leaves a moving train to join an inoperable one. That the PDP took the high moral ground of decency that we are known for, to congratulate the opposition parties on the formation of their new party does not cover its inherent inadequacies.
“So there is no PDP governor that will leave a stable and national party such as the PDP to join the APC. All our governors are working with the National Chairman and the National Working Committee and the President and there is no reason for anyone of them to contemplate leaving PDP for APC.”
The PDP also dismissed claims by the opposition that there is disunity in its ranks.
Instead, the statement said, PDP governors have been paying courtesy calls on the leadership of the party and have been making public statements that they are with the party leadership and the President in his transformation agenda.
“Those who continue to cast aspersions on the PDP and to suggest that there is crisis in the party are completely deluded. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no crisis in the PDP. We are all working together.
“The governors have been paying courtesy visits to the National Chairman and the National Working Committee and they are working with the President on the transformation agenda, ” the statement said.
Stating that the opposition elements will soon realise that they are merely chasing shadows, the PDP said it enjoys an overwhelming support from the people and will win more states in the 2015 elections in spite of the APC coming to the political scene.
Meanwhile, insinuations are on the air that the PDP is perfecting a plot to checkmate the new opposition party by ensuring that the planned merger did not come to fruition.
There are fears that some PDP governors who are dissatisfied with goings on in the party may cash in on the lingering intra-party crisis to join forces with the APC.
A source within PDP told Sunday Independent that some strategists of the party met in Abuja last week where the merger was widely discussed.
The meeting according to the source resolved to reach out to the President and persuade him to see reasons why there is need to checkmate the opposition.
To achieve this objective, the strategists are planning to convince the President on the need to mandate the anti-graft agencies to beam a searchlight on the activities of the governors who are members of the new arrangement on the assumption that they are the major financiers of the merger.
Their thinking is that with the anti- graft agency beaming its searchlight on the governors, many of the governors may develop cold feet about the new party while those who are nursing the intention of joining will have a rethink.
However, effort to get the PDP to confirm or deny the allegation proved abortive as several calls put across to Metuh were not replied.
But speaking on the development, Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) Balarabe Musa said he did not doubt PDP taking such action. “It is possible that PDP can do that, the party is mindless and very intolerant of the opposition. They don’t have the culture of democracy”.
Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Tony Momoh one of the merger partners said whatever anybody does to undermine the ongoing merger of the opposition parties which is aimed at rescuing the nation from poor and bad leadership would amount to anti-people.
Momoh said in a democracy anybody who acts in panic can not be said to be practicing true democracy, adding that the best thing for the PDP to do in the present circumstance is to sit back and see how many of its members it would be able to retain at the end of this merger.
Momoh added:“PDP should go back and see how many of its members it would be able to retain at the end of the exercise and not to be thinking of acting in panic.
“The PDP can’t stop this movement, it is a great project and I can tell you many of their members believe in the ideals of this movement and we will soon see an exodus from the ruling party.”
On its part, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said the PDP would not dare such evil plot.
Speaking to Sunday Independent, the National Publicity Secretary of ACN, Lai Mohammed said: “Let them try it, let them unleash EFCC or any anti-graft agency on the governors and they will see our reaction.”
Mohammed said we are in a democracy and every Nigerian has freedom of association and choice, adding that the ACN or any member in the merger will not panic over any step that may be taken by the ruling party.
